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It’s Official!

Whit and I have been blogging for exactly one year. Our blogs birthday was actually yesterday… but we did not even realize it until after we had already posted. Here’s our very firstpost, if you have never read it. It is pretty crappy if you want my opinion. Also most of the pictures from our first few posts got deleted when we added more space on to our blog. We started our by making our posts look like this. Whit and I always Cristin’s blog Eat Like Me from SELF.com so we kind of did the same layout as her for a while. Any ways looking back at the past year, our blog and our lives have come a long way.

Some important events that are documented on this blog is:

starting our junior year

getting a job at Chick-fil-a and then quitting and going to Einstein Bro’s with Whit

getting our licences

17th birthday

finding out that we are going to be aunts

becoming an early morning work out person

creating so many delicious recipes

getting interviewed for The Weekly Reader

having the opportunity to be in high school and college at the same time

reviewing some amazing products

This first year has been quite an adventure. Thank you to all of our readers and all of your wonderful comments. Everytime I get a comment, it puts a smile on my face. You all are amazing. 🙂

With that said we celebrated this morning with some birthday oats!

It felt like Fall air when we woke up, so instantly I whipped out a can ofpumpkin for our oats 😛

1/3 cup oats

1/3 cup almond milk

2/3 cup water

3 tbs. pumpkin puree

2 tbs. fresh brewed coffee

1/2 tbs. SF instant Butterscotch pudding mix

1 tsp. flax, chia

pumpkin pie spice/ cinnamon

While cooking stir in 1/2 a sweetener packet and some maple extract. Then top off with yogurt, pb, and a sliver of zucchini bread!

Here’s to a great year!

Oh and here’s a preview of C+W’s steamerswhich you will be seeing a lot more of in the next few chilly months!

Since today is an “A” day we did not have school, and it has been an extra long weekend. After breakfast we laced up our shoes, and headed outside for a nice cool run on the trails around the neighborhood. It was in the 60’s, and felt awesome. We ended up doing a 25 min run that included sprints, stairs, jogging, etc. It was Fun! Then, when we got home we did some ab work and weight lifting.

The kitchen was a mess, so we cleaned it up, and lit this yummy smelling candle. How cozy! 🙂

Lunch today was a Jumbo Veggie packed salad, with half a Volcanic Chocolate Banana Bora Bora bar, and a Pluot. We have been so addicted to Plouts lately. They are amazing! If you have not tried them yet, you must.

Here is the last out of our stash of Bora Bora bars.

It was good of course, but did not really taste like chocolate banana. Court thought it tasted more like German Chocolate Cake. lol. We both agree they should change the flavor name.

Here’s a close up of all those veggies. The egg-whites and humus really make the salad!

It’s time to go Chillax. I am thinking a warm bath and maybe watching some Gilmore Girls. Today it is a good day, because it is pay day $$$.

QOD: We are in the Fall mood today, so we want to know what you are looking forward to most in this upcoming holiday season?

Well today was an “A” day(early day) and our Friday! Tomorrow we do not have school because of graduation for the seniors, and Friday we are doing nothing but working on Review packets. My teacher said, “We are not going to be doing anything on Friday so just as long as you get it excused, I don’t care if you miss.” So we told our parents and they agreed to let us take off Friday. Do you know what this means? Whit and I will get to sleep in TWO DAYS in a row. We have not gotten one day to sleep in over a month! Five days a week we wake up at 5 am and 2 days we wake up at 6 am. It really starts to take a toll on your body, especially teenagers who have to go to school, work out, do homework, chores, and got to work all in one day. It is madness. I do not know how we do it, but some how we manage.

With it being our early day and all, Whit and I came home had a leisurely lunch, then debated whether we were doing a gym or an at home workout. We were both feeling very tired and groggy today, but we sucked it up and decided to hit the gym. And we hit it hard, I am talking flushed red faces and dripping sweat. We completed 40 min. of running on the treadmill for a total of 3.5 miles and 20 min. of strength training. After completing Insanity, Whit and I have slowly been getting back into running. For today’s workout we used this 3-2-1 running circuitfrom Iowa Girl, but this is how we modified it:

Time

Speed

0:00-5:00

4.0

5:00-8:00

5.0

8:00-10:00

6.0

10:00-11:00

7.0

11:00-35:00

Repeat minutes 5-11 four more times

35:00-40:00

4.0

Total

3.5 miles

This workout was killer, definitely a lung workout. I wore my new Zensah Shin Compression Sleeves that I ordered offline and they worked beautifully. I have been getting killer shin splints lately, and even when I run consistently I have horrible shin and calf pain which keeps me from running farther. These babies give me all of the support I need so that I am pain free!

I started off this workout with the intention that I was too tired to do much, but then as Chalene Johnson always says, “I got my second wind” right in the middle of the workout(right at about 25 minutes to be exact)!

Well on to the eats of the day. In the midst of Summer we don’t want to have a bloated tummy, RIGHT? As seen in Seventeen’s current issue, they say to skip the blueberry muffin with butter. It may seem fast and easy in the morning, but “it’s filled with unhealthy fats, so it will just sit in your stomach and make you feel puffy.”

SKIP IT:

1 average medium blueberry muffins has about 444 calories and 22 g of fat

OR

You could have 2 slices of French toast
1 cup of nonfat plain yogurt
1 cup of strawberries
2 tbs. of pecans
for about 435 calories and 16 g of fat, now which one sounds more tempting?

This morning, we chose a berry smoothie and a slice of rice pecan bread.

**Verdict: This bar tasted like cookie dough dipped in rice krispy cereal. It was so awesome and kept me full all afternoon. It is very chewy and takes you a long time to eat which is why I think it was so satisfying!

Also on the side was a peach that we dipped in greek yogurt/ pb sauce!

**Verdict: This flavor reminded me of GT’s Kombucha’s grape flavor. I love this stuff, it really has helped clear up my acne!

Dinner was a simple turkey and cheese quesidilla and a fruit salad.

I love quesidillas!

Tonight my special addition to this fruit salad was MANGO!

Have you been totally lost on where to begin on Summer shape-up Workouts?

Here is a weekly plan to help you kick start:

SUN

REST DAY

MON

Strength

TUES

CARDIO(Jog, bike, Swim, workout vid, or cardio machine for 30 min)

WED

Strength

THURS

REST DAY

FRI

Strength

SAT

CARDIO(Do intervals. Sprint 30 sec, then rest for 60. Do that 5 times, then rest for 2 minutes. Repeat 3 times total

“Find balance in your regimen and life. Take two days off each week!”-Jillian Michaels

**The importance of Strength training**

Strong muscles help you lose weight. And it’s not just the exercise involved to become strong that matters. Muscle tissue burns as much as 15 times more calories per day than does fat tissue — even when at rest! Nothing stokes your metabolism better than muscle.

Increases muscle mass, and muscle burns more calories than fat. Even at rest, your body will burn more calories if you strength train regularly. As muscle mass increases, metabolism increases, making it easier to maintain a healthy body weight. If you don’t intentionally rebuild muscle through exercise, every ten years you will need to eat 150-450 less calories each day to maintain your current weight.

Get a better night’s sleep. People who commit to a regular strength training program are less likely to have insomnia.

For an idea of what a day could look like on our Summer Shape-up plan, here is a superb day of foods:

Breakfast:

Homemade egg-white Mcmuffin(Cook 3 egg whites in the microwave in a small round bowl for 2 min 30 sec, place 1 slice of fat-free cheese and a reduced sodium piece of ham on a light multigrain english muffin.) -toast english muffin before hand, optional.

Well today was a LONG “B” day! It was nothing but ACT prep all day. When we left school, the sun was still shinin’, and Court and I had jam session #2 for the day on the way home. It is the perfect way to turn that frown upside down lol. 🙂

Since the weather was so nice, we vetoed the gym and opted. for a good sweat session outdoors. Before we geared up we decided a mini snack was much needed. We planned to go for a run/walk around on the neighborhood trails, so we needed something to keep our muscles from getting cramps. That happens very easily in Colorado. It just so happened that a package was awaiting for us on the doorstep. Today’s special delivery was from Taste Nirvana. They sent us some of their fabulous coconut water to review. One bottle has only 5o calories and tons of potassium, just what we needed!

Verdict:I have tried coconut milk, but the water is AMAZING. This actually tasted like coconut, instead of like some weird water substance with artificial flavors.

Paired with our coconut water was half of a pb & j nanner!

Our run was such an awesome workout. I love the idea of switching up your workouts everyday, because it works different muscles and really make you sweat! This was our first outdoor run since winter and boy was it tough! The sun was shining, but the wind was blowing, and that is when it is the hardest. My lungs definitely got a workout! Our run was a little more than 30 min. and was 3 miles. When we got home we did some ab action and then stretched it out. It felt soo good! I cannot wait for more days like this.

Whit and I have to get some rest and do a few practice tests before the ACT tomorrow, so we decided on something super quick and easy: split pea soup and a grilled ham and cheese pressed on the panini press w/out the butter.

I ❤ carbs

Well I need to unplug early tonight because the biggest test in my high school career is tomorrow!

But first here is the QOD: What did you do to prepare yourself for the ACT?